Sound Way

Reporter: Natalie Bonjolo

Months ago, eight year old Molly Bosma could barely read, "There'd be tears, it would be just hard work." Dad Kurt had almost given up hope, "She was struggling with these simple, simple books that the other kids were way ahead and Molly for whatever reason just didn't understand how to read properly, it wasn't just a matter of a few months, it went on for years this battle right from pre-primary where they start bringing home books."

Until Molly's school adopted a literacy program called The Sound Way, "within weeks to the first month she started to recognise words that she would never have understood before." After one term Testing showed Molly's reading has improved by TWO years.

The DVD course was created by former Perth teacher Craig Henderson, sound combinations and repetition are the focus. "Any person who does the program, be it a child, a six year old or and adult because it's used in the workforce here in Australia on the east coast, will improve an average 2 - 3 years in 12 weeks."

11-year-old Kaelee Wicks' reading level went up FOUR years. "I wasn't a huge fan of reading, I used to get bored sometimes when I was reading and I've enjoyed it more now."

Kaelee's teacher is Kevin Lowe, "The work that she was producing for me after the sound way program was exceptional. The vocabulary was amazing, the syntax was amazing, the way that she structured her sentence, the grammar, it all improved."

Kaelee's not alone, "Even the kids that from time to time slacked off a little and were a bit distracted, even they improved."

The program has also had results with learning difficulties and while it can be done at home or school it costs eight hundred dollars.

"Before parents decide to fork out on programs like this they need to be sure it's going to help their child." Grace Oakely is a Primary Education Expert from UWA... She says the Sound Way may be beneficial but not for all kids. "If their difficulties aren't arising because of a difficulty with decoding or letter sound relationships then these programs wouldn't be appropriate."

Parents can help early on, "Before they even start school if parents read a lot to them, play word games rhyming games in particular."